SOUTHPORT BADMINTON LEAGUE
THE nerves seem to elevate the performances of fourth division strugglers Crosby III, as they produced a crazy turnaround in form to oust relegation rivals Churchtown V 6-2 to move out of the relegation zone in week 10 of the ‘MKM Building Supplies’ Southport and District Badminton League.
Despite what has been a frustrating season in many ways for Crosby’s bottom team, they began their second half of the season with a crucial a match-up against a Churchtown V side that is also in the middle of a relegation scrap.
With both sides aware of the situation, this was a fiercely contested encounter as all but two of the contests went to a deciding set. Double wins for Geoff Bebby, Catherine Jones, Jimmy Weldon-Bee and Mike Choong was the highlight in what ended up being a result that currently moves them out of the bottom two.
Crosby’s second win of the season could see a new lease of life in this entertaining side in their bid for survival.
For the other sides involved at the bottom end of the table, there were a couple of heart-breaking losses for Westsands V and bottom side Woodvale VI.
For the former, an early deficit ended up being too much of a hill to climb as Westsands V fell 5-3 to a Burscough Pioneers II side that remain in the top two for another week. The same situation was experienced for bottom side Woodvale VI as they showed great fight against third place side Formby. However despite some heroic performances, there were not enough opportunities to claim something against a strong and solid Formby team.
Those wins for Burscough and Formby have kept leaders St. Cuthberts II on their toes, as they secured a comfortable 6-2 home win top half side Southport IV.
Meanwhile, wins in both of the women’s doubles was enough for Westsands IV to defeat opponents Woodvale’s fifth team 5-3 and collect a win that further cements their current top half position.
In division two, while the promotion race looks likely to be sorted, confirming division champions is still finely balanced involving Crosby II and Woodvale II. This week saw both sides record 7-1 wins over Mawdesley and bottom side Westsands III respectively. With their eagerly awaited second encounter of the season not coming till the end of February, attention is currently aimed at the strength of each teams victory. Crosby currently has a stronger event difference than Woodvale and the season could be determined by that tie-breaker.
At the opposite end of the table, strugglers Victoria Hall II have given themselves hope of a turnaround as they claimed a 4-4 draw away at Southport II. Despite being 3-1 down after the mixed doubles, Victoria Hall’s patience and determination paid off with a number of rewarding performances. This result may keep Victoria Hall in the bottom two. But it has put their nearest challengers on watch for what could be an interesting development within this division.
In other second division action, Churchtown’s third team remain within touching distance of the top two with a strong and solid performance to topple Tarleton’s third team 7-1.
It went to form at the top end of the third division as all of the three promotion contenders secured another valuable three points. While it was a comfortable week for second and third place sides Ormskirk III and Woodvale III, leaders Hesketh Bank almost suffered a slip-up against relegation threatened Mawdesley.
After moving to what many thought would be an uncatchable lead, Hesketh Bank fought against unexpected amount of resilience from their opponents. In the end, Hesketh Bank inched themselves over the line to record a ninth win of the season.
While it did end up being a near miss for Mawdesley, they are hoping for similar performances if they wish to stay in this division next season.